Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew dies aged 91

Mr Lee was admitted to hospital in February with severe pneumonia

FILE - In this Oct. 29, 2009, file photo, Singapore's then-Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, left, meets with U.S. President Barack Obama in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

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World leaders and Singaporeans wept as the city-state mourned the death of its founding father Lee Kuan Yew.

The government announced that Mr Lee, 91, "passed away peacefully" several hours before dawn at Singapore General Hospital.

An increasingly frail Mr Lee was admitted to hospital early last month February with severe pneumonia.

State television broke away from regular programming with a hagiographic tribute to Mr Lee's life and achievements. In a live broadcast, one of its reporters called the death the "awful and dreaded" news.

Mr Lee commanded immense respect, and sometimes fear, from Singaporeans, who this year will celebrate the country's 50th anniversary of independence.

He led multiracial Singapore with an iron grip for more than three decades until 1990, and is credited with transforming the resource poor island into a wealthy bustling financial hub with low crime and almost zero corruption.

His son, the current prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, struggled to hold back tears in a televised address to the nation.

Speaking in Malay, Mandarin and English, the prime minister said Mr Lee built a nation and gave Singaporeans a proud national identity.

"We won't see another man like him. To many Singaporeans, and indeed others too, Lee Kuan Yew was Singapore," he said.

At the hospital where Mr Lee spent the last weeks of his life, 55-year-old Maligah Thangaveloo cried as she clasped her hands in prayer before a sprawling array of flowers and cards left by Singaporeans.

Calling Mr Lee "father," she recalled shaking hands with him as a nine-year-old when he visited her school.

FILE - In this Oct. 29, 2009, file photo, Singapore's then-Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, left, meets with U.S. President Barack Obama in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

US president Barack Obama called Lee a "visionary", saying he was "deeply saddened" to learn of his death.

Mr Obama, who met Mr Lee during a visit to Singapore in 2009, said his "remarkable" leadership helped build one of the most prosperous countries in the world.

He said Singapore's success meant that Mr Lee's opinion was sought by political leaders around the world. Mr Lee was also "hugely important in helping me reformulate our policy of rebalancing to the Asia Pacific," Mr Obama said.

Neighbouring Malaysia, with which Singapore has occasionally testy relations, said Mr Lee's achievements were great and his legacy assured.

"Malaysia is committed to the future of our relationship with Singapore," said Prime Minister Hajib Razak.

A live broadcast by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on the death of his father is watched in a reception area at a hospital where Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew passed away, on Monday, March 23, 2015 in Singapore. (AP Photo/Joseph Nair)

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei described Lee as "an Asian politician with unique influence as well as a strategist imbued with eastern values and an international perspective".

The Singapore government has declared seven days of national mourning and flags will fly at half-staff on state buildings.

A national holiday has not been declared and daily life in this pragmatically commercial city of vaulting glass towers and broad immaculate streets continues to bustle.

A private wake for the Lee family will take place today and tomorrow at Sri Temasek, the prime minister's official residence in the lush tropical grounds of the Istana government complex. After that, Mr Lee will lie in state at parliament until a state funeral on Sunday.

The government also set up condolence boards at Parliament House and Istana and a website called Remembering Lee Kuan Yew where people can leave messages.

A woman writes condolences messages in front of a portrait of the late Lee Kuan Yew, placed along with wreaths at the Singapore embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 23, 2015. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Under Mr Lee and his successors, Singapore was known around the world for its strict social order including a ban on chewing gum, restrictions on free speech and canings for crimes some countries would rule as minor.

In recent years, it has become socially more liberal and the fragmented political opposition made gains in Singapore's last elections in 2011.

After stepping down as prime minister, Mr Lee remained part of the Cabinet and an influential figure in Singapore and Asia.

His legacy is regarded within Singapore and abroad as profound but there is also recognition that a toll was also exacted.